For a variety of reasons, a user may want to transfer a communications exchange, such as a phone call, from one communications device to another. For example, a user talking on a cellular phone may be experiencing less than optimal reception and suffering from poor voice quality. In this scenario, the user may wish to transfer the phone call to a landline phone to improve the voice quality of the conversation. In a different example, a user talking on a landline phone may find it convenient on some occasions to be able to transfer the conversation to a cellular or wireless phone so he or she does not have to be restricted by the physical location of the landline phone.
However, transference of a communication exchange faces several difficulties. For example, conventionally, if a user wants to transfer a communications exchange he or she has to either end the current communications exchange and start a new communications exchange or place the current communications exchange on hold, initiate a consult transfer call to the phone intended for the transfer, and manually answer it to complete the transfer.
Unfortunately, both ending the current communications exchange and placing the current communications exchange on hold causes an undesirable disruption to the natural flow of the communications exchange. Ending the current communication exchange and initiating a new communications exchange is inconvenient and may even be irritating to users. In the business context, significant interruptions to conversations may lead to lost sales. Similarly, placing the current communications exchange on hold and manually performing the series of steps required to finally make the communications exchange transfer is troublesome.